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Monday, December 31, 2012

Accentuate the Positive 2012 Geneameme

Thanks once again to Geniaus for coming up with theAccentuate the Positive 2012 geneameme.

At this time of year many geneabloggers take stock of what they have achieved or not achieved in the previous twelve months and set themselves goals for the coming year. I have been reading several of these posts this week.

I feel that a lot of my geneablogging friends are too hard on themselves; several have reported on their successes this year but quite a number have lamented that they haven't achieved as much as they set out to do or that they haven't blogged with the frequency they envisaged.

You are a bunch of highly motivated people who have made great strides in the genealogy sphere. Let's share the good news.My responsePerhaps I had been one of those who lamented about the lack of progress this year. So for the last hour (or more) I have sat here contemplating my efforts and I have to admit they are not so poor. I just wish I had more time to devote to this exciting pastime. 1. An elusive ancestor I found was great great great great grandmother Jane Sawtel (Saltwell) who married Edward Bettis (Bettes) on 24th February 1828, at Stondon-Massey, Essex, England. Until a couple of weeks ago I only knew her name was Jane.

2. A precious family photo I found was one of my great, great grandfather John Mylan and members of his family taken in Cooma. Thanks to my aunt who has entrusted this photograph to me.

John Mylan and family, Countegany, Cooma. Taken before 1918.

3. An ancestor's grave I found was that of my great great grandmother Sarah Jane Merchant who is buried in Tenterfield. I blogged about this earlier in the year.

Sarah Jane Merchant is buried between two of her children in Tenterfield - mid photo no headstone

4. An important vital record I found was the baptismal record of my great great grandmother Jane Smith Fleming in Stranraer in 1853. (I'd never actually looked for it before this year!)

5. A newly found family member and I exchanged our Glock family research.

6. A geneasurprise I received was a beautiful linen tablecloth circa 1920 with a B embroidered in the corner sent to me from from Eilis, the proprietor of Arsenic and Old Lace in Atlanta Georgia in appreciation for a connection made through my blog posts about Sam Dawson. (1), (2), (3) and (4).

9. A new piece of software that I still have to master is TNG. My site The Tree of Me is up and running but I only have a small proportion of my data there. Each time I try to upload it all I get an error saying the file is too big. It probably only needs me to spend a little more time trying to solve the problem.

10. A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was Feeddler Pro. I use this as my RSS reader to keep organise my blogs I read.

11. A genealogy seminar from which I learnt something new was all about the land in NSW. We spent time exploring the Spacial Information eXchange and other sites.

12. I am proud of the presentation I gave at the Coffs Harbour Family History Group on Trove.

13. A journal article I had published was called iPads : Instant access and engagement for students with disabilities in The Australian Educational Leader (Volume 34 Number 2 2012).

14. I taught a friend how to use google maps so she could make a personal map of all the places here ancestors came from.

19. A geneadventure I enjoyed was getting a photo taken in Greenock, Scotland at the address my great grandfather, Knox Moore lived before he came to Australia.

20. Another positive I would like to share is that I have made a great start at organising my digital records according to the archival principles of Sassy Jane discussed here. Mind you, this only concerns my paper files. My photos are still a mess and not as simply accessed. Perhaps I'll make progress on this in 2013.Thanks to Geniaus for starting this meme. It has certainly made me think of all the positives that have happened this year in my quest.

Congratulations Sharon. I agree with Jill as Juggling work and family history is a challenge...but the the latter is a sanity saver too:-) Excellent discovery of your 4 x great grandmother. I love the family photo in the bush.